Rebooting Wonder Woman: More Retro than Revolutionary.

Did you hear the big news? After almost 70 years, Wonder Woman is getting an extreme makeover. She’s cutting her hair short, trading in her magic lasso for a basketball, giving up the Justice League for the WNBA and trying out as a shooting guard. Okay, so she’s not doing any of those things, but that would still be more interesting to me than her changing her look by turning into a biker chick in a leather jacket and pants.

Now this wasn’t a subject I was even slightly interested in until I realized the announcement of the distaff member of the DC Comics holy trinity (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) was being wheeled out for public consumption following an extreme makeover. For reasons I’m not sure of this became a MAJOR story for the mainstream media from The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, The BBC, MTV, CNN, Fox News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and more cable channels, newspapers, websites and blogs than you can throw a magic lasso around. I’m always amused when the non-comic book press gets a whiff of of a comic book “event” and goes batshit crazy about it, so I figured I might as well join in on the fun. Unlike most of the writers penning these articles, I’ve actually read a Wonder Woman comic book within the past decade.

Still, to paraphrase Public Enemy, Wonder Woman was a hero to most, but she never meant shit to me.

Wonder Woman is one of the oldest comic book characters and one of the all-time dullest and most overrated. DC has tried and tried and tried again to raise WW to the level of Bats and Supes. They’ve tried radical changes in story and art. They’ve hired superstar talent, gay talent, women talent and the result—nothing. After almost seven decades there still has never been a definitive version of the character and there’s no reason to believe anything is about to change now. Will there be an initial surge in sales of the relaunched comic book? Of course there will be after all this free publicity, but after it fades away (and fade away it will), Wonder Woman will sink back to its middling monthly ales numbers in the 70,000 – 80,000 range.

In 2008, Alicia Ashby wrote a pretty well thought out essay of “The 10 Reasons Nobody Cares About Wonder Woman.” Among Ashby’s reasons were “There Are No Great Wonder Woman Stories” and compared her lackluster run of stories to her super friends Batman (The Dark Knight, The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum) and Superman (Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, Red Sun), “Terrible Villans,” “The Invisible Plane” and the prescient “Madame, Please Put On Some Pants.”

Comic books are a male-dominated, testosterone fueled medium. Guys grow up wanting to BE Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Captain America. Wonder Woman is eye-candy and the hot chick they fantasize about. First, last and always. The small percentage of women and girls that read Wonder Woman hardly make up for the large percentage of men and boys who don’t.

You want to make Wonder Woman edgy? You really want to smash her tired status quo to pieces and give her not a ticky-tacky reboot but a major kick in the ass? Have her come out of the comic book closet. When you think about it, why wouldn’t Wonder Woman be a lesbian? She’s an Amazon who comes from an island entirely populated by women. But that’s too edgy for DC. They would rather screw around on the edges and change her uniform and stay as far away as possible from her sexual orientation. Ooh, aren’t we pushing the envelope?Aren’t we just shaking Wonder Woman’s world down to its foundations? No. You’re really not.

...and this is not one of her better ones.

If I were part of DC’s PR department, I’d be high-fiving all around because they got the mainstream media to mention Wonder Woman, but this falls under the category of a dull week where everyone is bored with the Kagan confirmation hearings and the oil spill. “Wonder Woman puts pants on” is the embodiment of a NOTHING story. It means nothing. It changes nothing. At the end of the day, who gives a shit? If you’ve ever read comic books more than a year you KNOW it’s inevitable she ends up right back in the classic duds same as Spider-Man’s black costume and Electric-Blue Superman did.

A comic book character changes from a highly impractical uniform to a slightly more practical uniform and the next thing you know the media starts wetting themselves. Whoopie-ding-dong. Must be a slow week for news. 54 people got shot over one weekend in Chicago recently including two kids who went to a barbecue and ended being chased, stripped naked, shot execution-style in the head, and their bodies left on the railroad tracks. Didn’t see any big national media focus about that and I damn sure didn’t see any Wonder Woman fly in with her invisible plane to save the day.

New Coke got a lot of publicity too. Doesn’t mean it was a good idea.

The best rendition of Wonder Woman is and was the Lynda Carter version—and she wore the one-piece. Even then the character of Steve Trevor was introduced only to give Wonder Woman someone to rescue every week and give her a little heterosexual cover. The woman is almost 70 years old. Isn’t it about time she finally chose a side? Drag her out the closet and let her start singing Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls songs.

Let Wonder Woman be Wonder Woman and develop into something more than Good Girl Art. By now haven’t we reached a point where we can handle open major comic book character that is a lesbian or gay? Just because she’s playing for the other team doesn’t mean she still isn’t on our side.

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179 thoughts on “Rebooting Wonder Woman: More Retro than Revolutionary.”

I always liked Wonder Woman. She can tie me up with her golden lasso and force me to tell the truth anytime, whether she is in black leather or the good ole Red, White and Blue. Let;s see it come to life on the big screen.

I guess that proves the point that Wonder Woman is a “fetish icon”. For me that means she’s more than just “Good Girl Art.”

Basically, she’s the archetype (Jungian) of the mother, and as Freud pointed out, we measure all women by our mother. Hence the Oedipal complex.

A fetish icon is: ” from the Latin facticius, “artificial” and facere, “to make”) is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a man-made object that has power over others. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetishes

What her change of costume does tell us, is a reflection of our own sexual desire.

You can see over the last 20 years that she’s worn some very revealing garments [yay!]. Which illustrates the change in attitudes toward sexuality in western culture.

Wonder Woman would probably get in a bit of bother, if she walked around dressed like that, in a country with Sharia law (Islamic Law). However, if she walked down my local hight street, most people probably would drop to their knees and star worshipping her. Well the men anyway.

Really interesting and funny article! Enjoyed reading it till the very last word 🙂
I just started reading comics but have been familiar with them for a long time. It’s definitely true that Wonder Woman was rarely more than just eye candy, and it’s a bit unfair because Batman and Superman wear super tight clothes that show off their muscles and if they showed their thighs, I’m not sure they would have had such a big fan base. So once again, the woman’s body is under scrutiny while the man remains intact.
As for the Jungian theory, I thought she’d fit in the “anima”, the female counterpart.

Your killing me I love wonder woman I’m 35 and somewhere I still love her just as I did 25 years ago and her in black YUK (but nice artwork) she looks evil shes a good girl, nice girl, fair and strong, she takes down the bad guy in a honest manner shes my little girl hero.

It often appears that society deems a physically strong woman to be lesbian or bi, at least in the media. As a very strong female [powerlifter], I see it a lot differently – I get a lot of male attention. Guys don’t ever look at my physique and say…wow, she’s clearly gay. No, they say…wow, she clearly hits the gym – hard.

My point being, why does an icon like WW have to be deemed gay to be cutting edge? This HARDLY reflects cultural attitudes [at least in my experience.] Strong women are more often than not straight and sexy.

As a man I’d have to agree. Well toned or muscled doesn’t equal gay in my mind. Other things make me consider it but I also recognise, knowing many lesbian women and couples that the stereotypes are just that and in fact one should never assume. Wonder, ponder but not assume.

I don’t think that society automatically deems physically strong women lesbian, I think that is a lessening stereotype. What stereotype I DO think is being used is the one of a lone woman who in 70 years never gets involved with a guy, comes from an island of only women, and never seems to need or ask for any help (a very, very stupid stereotype that one). I think society thinks of physical strength as more of a sex symbol than anything else…

What I’m trying to say is the “butch” stereotype of lesbians and bis is a thing of the past and is often over used (and wrong) but also stands for an over-physicallity (which I don’t really see in WW).

My first impression upon seeing the stories about Wonder Woman’s new costume was also, “this is a pathetic attempt to get some attention.” So I agree with you there. However, I cannot and do not think I will ever see the point of making her gay. That’s just . . . stupid. And manipulative. And your assumptions are misguided.

First, making her a lesbian is an even BIGGER shameful ploy to get attention for a famous-but-boring character than changing her costume. What better way to say, “We are interested in current events enough to try to make a buck off of it.” At least the costume is character-focused.

Second, why don’t we also make her black? That way she can be “street wise.” Or maybe we can put her in a wheel chair, so that we’ll know she has a big heart. After all, you’re running off the assumption that she must be homosexual because she’s a powerful woman who doesn’t rely on men to save her every ten minutes. That means she’s gay, right?

Tripled. I’m not very big on the concept of rewriting 70 year old character histories just to win over such-and-such an audience. WW, on her good days, in a symbol of female empowerment. Somehow, and I admit… it shouldn’t, but somehow making her a lesbian cuts into this. It brings with it the attitude that if you’re going to be a strong woman who gets what you want, then you must be gay.

This whole revamp is a flash in the pan, but I don’t think making Wonder Woman a character that people care about is impossible. Pendant Audio have been doing some awesome things with the character in their “Wonder Woman: Champion of Themescara” podcast. I think DCs big problem is that they never give WW choice writers who can pull out a truly memorable script. I mean, the woman’s a frickin’ Amazon for cripe’s sake. Greek comedy and tragedy has been a staple of Western Literature. How did Wonder Woman become a bad knock off of Xena?

I’m with Lawyergal and Bradenbost on this one. While I was reading your post I kept thinking — why in the world would making her gay be “cutting edge?” If the problem with Wonder Woman is that women don’t read comic books, then how does making a powerful, positive role model for women a lesbian change things? All that does is cater to a heteronormative male fantasy, which I suppose could in turn bolster male readership if there’s promise of some girl-on-girl action. But Wonder Woman has been subjectified enough, and it still hasn’t done anything for her legacy as a female superhero. Maybe they need to hire some new writers, then we can talk about her outfit and her sexual orientation.

I agree as well, and by labelling her as gay you will actually LOSE your valuable “middling monthly [sales] numbers in the 70,000 – 80,000 range” or at least a lot of them. Half this article says that WW’s only audience is drooling men, but then how does making her lesbian bring in more of the comic-book reading crowd (at least the ones that DC usually draws in – the men). If our culture can handle that type of genre, make a completely new character, don’t change another one and threaten its sales/reputation/publishing lifespan. This is the same as the Manga culture, they create genres and characters in each genre, they don’t transfer characters between the two. Why not create a character (lesbian or not) that fits in that genre and leave WW where she is (costume change or not).

This is just another example of how seperated American comic publishers can be from their audiences…

Also, I don’t really see how the news from Chicago fits in this post. What the media does doesn’t involve a comic book character, and it definitely doesn’t matter if WW could fly in and save the day. That is real life, WW is fantasy. Don’t confuse the two

The point about the violence in Chicago was how something important can get totally lost by mainstream journalism’s “follow-the-leader” mindset. A comic book character getting a costume change is major news while Chicago turning into Baghdad West is not. Sorry the point was on you.

<WW is nomore an american female hero, that's why she can ,not wear stripes and stars, she could be in green with white stars or purple or red!!! Who cares?? she is now inter galaxy, the symbol of women in something else than consumer one, TV watcher, or just mama . We know , she has a brain and ; behind every Very Important male Personn; feel his partner (female or male); one lives in fantasy , Two……….. !

even in the television series I remember her always going after the ordinary cookie cutter crook (one episode going after a bomb that the guy that played Radar in MASH placed in an airport trash can, weird that I remember that). She never had a true enemy. Even the short lived live Spider man television series had a super villain or two.

I agree with both bradenbost and lawyergal. True, Wonder Woman is a dead character. Actually, she does sometimes end up being the sexual icon on the screen with the big boys. But I sincerely think that the answer to her problems isn’t making her a lesbian, since, as someone pointed out, all strong women do not have to be lesbians. And all straight women do not have to be sexual icons or helpless. Somehow, bringing strong and sexy together has to be attempted!

I’ve never been a fan of Wonder Woman, don’t even like the majority of DC Comics, but Wonder Woman is especially lame. Seriously, Lasso of Truth? Anyway, Wonder Woman should probably just be stopped. She’s being held onto, more than anything, because so many people know her, and it’s obviously assumed that she will someday pay out…big time. I say end it. She’s had her run, and she can still come back in other comics, and she can be strong and womanly without being put into some new costume.

It’s not as awful as people are making it out to be and it’s not permanent anyway, so I don’t really have a problem with it other than it being too “street”/Black Canary-ish. But that’s what they are going for anyway.

I have never read a Wonder Woman comic book, that could make me wholly unqualified to comment or speak volumes about the appeal of the character depending on your point of view.

If you have a really good story and great artists you can insert any hero and villain into the story with minimal tweaking. From a quality point of view that’s all you need to create a good comic book. Have any of the writers and artists responsible for the seminal superman or batman stories you mention ever worked on a wonder woman? If not that is probably the answer. You make a good point about the demographic who read the comic by the way.

From an appeal point of view, she probably needs a movie a, a stripped back and honest movie like Batman Begins to bring her back to a wider audience. And if you can get writers and producers (not even director) of a successful Batman movie onboard that will make a world of difference. Do you know what “From the makers of The Dark Knight” on the poster/trailer would do for a project like that!

Finally do what comic books do best reboot! An invisible plane!!!! Drop it, make a joke of it, “it’s not actually invisible, it’s a stealth plane, invisible to radar”

As for the costume it real doesn’t matter in itself but if they are going for a total reboot, a new costume is a perfect start and in years to come people may look back and say “The best wonder woman was the biker chick period, you remember just before she came out”

Ok so you’re best point is that there are no classic Wonder Woman Stories or truly effective villains. In addition, her origin is fairly soft compared to Batman and Superman.

Is the make-over interesting? I guess, but we’ve seen a lot (as you pointed out at the top of your post) different costumes for Diana Prince. And honestly, the Wonder Girl stories of Donna Troy are more interesting, because the writers were taking risks with Donna Troy. Wonder Woman is treated too much of a sacred cow.

Depower her for one, like John Byrne did with Superman in mid80s reboot, and create a a series of interesting villains or just plain cool opponents. Take Lex Luthor for instance, prior to John Byrne’s reboot of Superman, Luthor wasn’t cool – that mechanical suit was stupid. Making Luthor one of the richest men on the planet made him infinitely more interesting, complex, and dynamic.

The hero is ONLY as good as the villain he or she fights against… Circe, Cheetah and the rest of the old Rogue’s Gallery aren’t interesting. Artemis was an interesting rival, and that might have been the only thing noteworthy or memorable in the Wonder Woman mythos in the past 20 years…

This was what I was going to say! The new Batwoman is a lot more interesting than Wonder Woman ever will be. The lesbian thing is rather downplayed (because it’s as boring as watching any comic book character date), but her being discharged from the military because of it is something completely different.

Also, your suggestion that people tinker with Wonder Woman’s sexual orientation leaves me concerned that you don’t really understand what’s going on here. Why do tough girls need to be lesbians? Doesn’t that set back both women and gay liberation?

DC has done this makeover thing with their three greatest heroes (Batman, Superman & Wonder Woman) along with others and always find themselves right back to the original look or a slightly, very slightly altered look. Give it a few months and once the real fans complain enough she’ll back to the U.S. T&A look, which depending on the artists drawing her looks good.

Man, is it just me, or have the new Wonder Woman’s boobs reached truly GARGANTUAN proportions? I mean, she always was pretty well endowed in the bosom department, but her top heaviness has reached a point where I think it could cause some serious problems in the arena of hand-to-hand combat.

Um, you think Wonder Woman should be gay? I am not sure I understand your reasoning. In fact, this assertion seems to come out of nowhere. Would her being gay make us take her more seriously or something? Because honestly, I think that simply helps contribute to the idea that straight women cannot be superheroes, and only when they are as close to being like men as possible should we take women seriously. What a strange thing to say.

Great post!!
I’ve been a female comic book reader since I was 12 (still have all of them too, just packaged up in plastic tubs). I still read SOME comics but it’s mostly mystery adult manga like Monster.

When I think about what I read back then; in my DC comic collection I read great stories from Batman and Robin, Superboy, The Legion of Superheros and etc. I never was interested in Wonder Woman because for one I wasn’t really interested in her powers, and the story lines didn’t catch on with me. Sure she’s an empowering female character but she didn’t empower me. Personally and I hate to go a bit off topic, but Marvel’s Rogue and Storm were and are still my favorite strong female characters. Both characters have been made over and changed for years and they’re still popular today. I think if DC wants to make WW more popular, yes she may have to “go for the other team” or maybe revamp her powers.

Not only have I read comics but I used to work in a comic shop. Wonder Woman was not a title I read and in fact I didn’t realise it was still going. But then I never bothered with Justice League of America or The Green Lantern either.

All major comic lines try to reinvent themselves to bring new readers and lift sales. Let’s face it. The stories get boring. That’s why one offs or mini series can work so well.

So they want her to wear something different? Why not to it in the real life way of her going ‘damn but I’m bored of wearing the same thing since forever! Time for some new threads.’ It isn’t particularly exciting and honestly I’m more interested in reading the new Doc Savage comic than Wonder Woman. And I’m male. (and not gay before anyone starts on that line).

Interesting article but make her a lesbian – *sigh* really there’s no need.

Thanks for covering the change in Wonder Woman’s costume. I heard just a passing comment about it on the radio today, and you covered it much more in depth. I’m not a fan of the new biker chick look. But then, I remember laughing about Wonder Woman as a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons. I mean, an invisible plane?? C’mon!!

She can lift TANKS. I don’t think overly large breasts are going to bother her back at all.

Also… She can lift TANKS, and you’re worried about believability?

Re: “coming out”. There were some hints back in the late ’90s, early 2000s that she may be bi, partly because of growing up on an island with NO MEN. At the very least, she doesn’t have the social and cultural inhibitions about homosexuality that most Americans do, because she grew up in a society where it was the ONLY kind of relationship possible.

Somehow, I don’t think she went through her teenage years without at least one romantic relationship.

Wow. Now that I wouldn’t have guessed. Do you think that they are doing it with the hope of a movie? The outfit is definitely more appealing I think for the current culture and young adult crowd. So long as she still has that golden lasso, I’m happy.

Making her a lesbian wouldn’t be cutting edge. There are already lesbian and bi characters in mainstream superhero comics, and they inevitably wind up being fanservice. What’s needed is something to make her character stand out. Superman is the godlike hero with an identity crisis, doing the best he can in a world he doesn’t quite understand. Batman is a grim and cynical vigilante, as mentally disturbed as the villains he chases. Wonder Woman is… er… she’s a strong woman! Trouble is, since the rise of feminism, that doesn’t mean a thing.

Why does it seem that the “ultimate transformation” for many has to be another gender-bender pile of crap?
It’s really tiresome how titillating the unevolved mind finds this sort of thing.
Why not make her a Rhodes Scholar. At least that would give people something to aspire to.

Ugh Seriously? Okay I have nothing against lesbians, but you can’t suddenly say “Oh yeah, forgot she’s a lesbian!” That’s as lame as when Willow (on Buffy) decides all of a sudden in season 4 she’s a lesbian. Um… no. She’s not. You don’t get all the way to college, LOVE males and get turned on by them, suddenly to realize all that was fake and now you just like girls.

Um… huh? MAYBE Willow is bi. And MAYBE CatWoman is too, but this 11th hour lesbianism is completely lame as a character-revamp or story device. It just makes me think that it’s all being written by straight people with nothing better to do. Because every gay person I’ve ever talked to, always “knew” there was something different about their sexuality from the mainstream and weren’t into the opposite sex at all, ever.

I guess my beef is with people who don’t understand the difference between gay and bi and want a female character to do a complete 180 suddenly because it’s “trendy”. Frankly, I feel that’s insulting to women of all sexual orientations. Women’s sexuality seems to be more fluid than men’s, but it’s not THAT fluid. Jeez.

Agreed. The lesbian angle is teetering on the brink of “done to death”. I hate that it’s constantly being used as a way to make a character “interesting”. That is LAME. If the only way you can make a character worth watching is to suddenly make them into the same sex, that is a crappy character and you need to save a tree and kill them off. Get WW a real villain, or a heavy personality conflict.

Honestly, I think that DC is afraid to do anything really real with her. I think the fear is that if something happens to her, people will go nuts that they decided to “do something” to a strong female character. I don’t think they’ve quite figured out that it’s not what happens to them that makes the difference, it’s what happens after. If she emerges on the other side even more badass than she was before, all will be good.

Instead, she gets stretch pants and Jubilee’s jacket from 1992. Some makeover.

You’re dead right putting the new WW costume in the same box as Electric Blue Superman. And that leaves me curious as to why DC have avoided tinkering with Batman’s look.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Dark Knight has never had a makeover as radical as either of those.

Here is a better idea: clearly define her character as hetero. Just put in the comic her sexcapades with Superman, Batman (and the Boy Wonder! Maybe a 2 on 1 err… I meant 2 for 1 edition! hee hee! ), Captain America, etc, etc… Now that would be an awesome comic!
Hell, she could be bi and that could double the number of plot lines! ;-P

I’ve been a fan of Wonder Woman since I was 6. In fact, I was a fan of her before I discovered Superman and Batman. I’ve seen all kinds of things done with her: changing costumes, changing storylines, etc. The only great thing done was during George Perez’s run for the first 62 issues of her second run after the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” storyline back in 1985 (her revised run started in 1987). That was the single greatest revival of any of the DC comics line, and it remains a wonderful read. After he left the book, instead of other writers building on that (like others did for Superman and Batman), the writers changed the storyline and basically threw every plot device at her then left when nothing stuck. Now, they’ve taken away the unique look that made her Wonder Woman and gone back to the I Ching era, which didn’t last but a handful of issues (I understand they’re de-powering her a bit, too, like they did back then). Utterly stupid and wasteful. Like all the other changes, this one will last a year, maybe two, and then we’ll see a “Wonder Woman is Back!!!” storyline which will return the costume and story back to where it was. The latest run has been good, but apparently DC doesn’t really back her well enough; they just publish her because she’s an icon. So sad.

And, in regards to making her a lesbian: this type of change is unnecessary and gratuitous. First of all, Diana has never been portrayed as a lesbian (although it’s been hinted in Perez’s run that some of the other Amazons were), and it only furthers stereotypes that a tough woman who takes control of her own life can’t be beautiful without being gay. I know lots of tough women who are heterosexual, yet they get that lesbian label because they don’t need a man to watch out for them.

The mythological aspects of Wonder Woman, when done correctly (i.e. George Perez’s run), made her unique with a rich back history. It’s DC’s fault that they can’t measure up to what was built on in the past.

I guess I don’t pay attention enough because I had no idea that Wonder Woman was getting a makeover. I Googled the picture and found out that, like most here, I’m not gaga over the new look. Is she supposed to be hanging with Bandidos now? Hell’s Angels? Is she going after only bikers? Personally, I think if she were more like the heroine of the animated movie Heavy Metal she’d be more likable as a character, but maybe I’m prejudiced since I’ve always liked that movie. Maybe if we knew her backstory. Did she have a hard life? Did she loose someone she loved? If she had to go through normal hardships like the rest of us it might make her character more relate-able. I’m no comic book connoisseur. Just throwing around ideas.

It is painfully obvious that you don’t read comic books, or give a shit about comic books, or give a shit about Wonder Woman as a character, or give a shit about this news story other than jumping on the bandwagon of spreading it about the internet for the sake of generating hits to your own blog.

Congratulations. You got my comment. I hope your readers will click on the link to my blog.

It is painfully obvious that you don’t have a clue. I do read comic books. In fact, I just finished re-reading the complete 66-issues of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion’s Preacher. I like comic books just fine, but I don’t need fairy tales and sexually nebulous characters like Wonder Woman.

I said Wonder Woman has never met shit to me. The only time I read her comic with any consistency was the William Messner-Loebes and Mike Deodato version when Artemis took over the Wonder Woman role and Diana gave up her uniform for the leather jacket and biker shorts look (which was better than this Jim Lee designed mess). So Casey, don’t presume becaue you know something about the character means i don’t know anything.

Oh, and to your point about, “jumping on the bandwagon of spreading it about the internet for the sake of generating hits to my own blog,” why the hell else would anyone blog about as bland a super heroine as Wonder Woman? I didn’t ask the folks at Word Press to put my blog post on the front page, though I’m glad they did.

Got your attention didn’t it? To the point that you’re ripping my post without making a single critical point, but to try and pimp your blog. Smooth move there, C.C. Don’t hate. Appreciate.

Hi. 🙂 I was instantly impressed when I saw your profile. It amazes me that you have managed to become both an editor, a freelancer, columnist, journalist and information technology man. I would love to become a freelancer as a part-time job, and I have been searching everywhere, but it’s really hard to know exactly what to do. I am only 20, and am currently studying Communication and Media at Bournemouth University in England.

I was wondering if maybe you could help advice me about what places to look, especially because I am currently in Norway, intensely looking for a job, and I felt that doing what I like would be even better for me.

I have always been a huge wonder woman fan. As a child, I spent most of 2 years in wonder woman under – roo’s. They don’t fit anymore, but I do have a costume i might pull out one halloween. I think that Lynda Carter was the best Wonder Woman. There are so many male super heros, that little boys can look up to or pretend to be. Wonder Woman is that for girls. I don’t think they should change her, defiantly don’t make her a lesbian. Super hero’s are usually something you initially are interested in when your young. Children have no interest in sexual orientation.

I would be perfectly fine if WW was bi or a lesbian. Its actually been suggested in some of the newer comics (I think Amazons Attack?) when a news reporter asks if she has a boyfriend she replies that she isn’t currently dating anyone – women or men.

My questions is does assuming a strong, assertive, intelligent, muscular woman is bi or a lesbian a compliment for the gay community or an insult for straight women.

While its nice to see a positive lesbian stereotype for a change it’s still a stereotype none the less

I don’t know about the no great wonder woman stories thing. Dark knight returns 2, every Crisis and New Frontier have her as a major character. She was kind of a bad ass in New Frontier. Wonder Woman will always be a “Supermans Girlfriend” kind of character on the other hand. No matter what kinds of pants she wears. Now if we can get Bruce and Clark to put some pants on.

Alicia Ashby’s point was Wonder Woman has never had a graphic novel or storyline where she was the lead character. She’s in a supporting role in all the Crisis crossovers, Kingdom Comeand The New Frontier. Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride.

Bruce and Clark do wear pants. They just wear their underwear on the outside of them.

I agree totally that this was a publicity stunt, and it succeeded beyond DC Comics’ wildest imaginings because they got lucky and it hit on a slow news week. Of course this change is only superficial and part of the usual hoops that comics companies jump through in a desperate bid for attention from the mainstream media. This is probably better than killing her, but not by much. You can bet she will be back in her traditional fighting togs in short order (I’m thinking 2 years, tops). Until WW gets her own version of “The Dark Knight Returns” (a story that she headlines, not one in which she plays a strong supporting role) , she will probably remain a second-stringer, and a distant third in the DC Trinity.
If you’re so inclined, you can check out my (much more long-winded) thoughts on my blog

I am so terribly disappointed in the new outfit design. I hope to heck they don’t ruin anymore of the charm that is Wonder Woman by casting an idiot actress; such as Megan Fox. Of if they opt to go with the idea that Beyonce’ should be Wonder Woman. “Don’t mess with a white man’s superhero” quoted from Will Smith when he was approached to play Superman.

The new outfit is rather “emo” looking, and it’s geared all too well towards younger generations. I was a HUGE fan as a child. Yes, I am a female, and yes I read all the comic books as a child. I ran around gleefully in my underoos, chasing my brothers around in their superhero underoos.

I’m a HUGE fan of wonder woman. I absolutly like her slutty one-piece costume and i’m not so sure that turning her into a lesbian would be the ultime revolution for the character.
Actually, I think it would be a obvius thing, i mean, sure…. a woman who grew up sourrounded by other women and who doesn’t care about having a man… soooo, lets lesbianize her…. kinda boring if you ask me…

Personally, i think it would be so much hotter to make superman & batman gay… 😀

Of course she should go gay, would make her so much more interesting. But she will never even get close to the one and only comic-book female: Modesty Blaise. Now, she might not have super-powers or even fit in that genre, but she definitely hovers on the borders.

i dont know to much about wonder woman
im only 18 i didnt grow up on d.c justice league
but i am aware of em
and as a women i must say first of i respect your opinion
but i feel like its more to wonder woman than her being a hero
out side of that
she is a strong independent women i feel like thats what she represent
she is a hero to most women rather they know it or not
think about it
she’s letting it be known that a man isnt the only ones who can save the world and thats being said as a metaphor..
she teaches me to be strong and always stand my ground because us women have just as much power as men do..i must thank you because now im interested in wonder women i actually want to go get some off the ww d.v.d’s or comics..lls..i have a strong feeling i wont enjoy em tho lls..but i subscribed to your blogs and i hope that you will read and comment on my blogs im new at this and i can use all the support i can get.please and thank you

am so terribly disappointed in the new outfit design. I hope to heck they don’t ruin anymore of the charm that is Wonder Woman by casting an idiot actress; such as Megan Fox. Of if they opt to go with the idea that Beyonce’ should be Wonder Woman. “Don’t mess with a white man’s superhero” quoted from Will Smith when he was approached to play Superman.

The new outfit is rather “emo” looking, and it’s geared all too well towards younger generations. I was a HUGE fan as a child. Yes, I am a female, and yes I read all the comic books as a child. I ran around gleefully in my underoos, chasing my brothers around in their superhero underoos.

Your comments about the Freudian aspect of Wonder Woman somewhat miss the point — Wonder Woman was created by a Harvard-graduated psychologist, a proto-feminist who theorized that men would gain ultimate freedom through submission to women. He was a pretty radical dude. Also, I think in the original comics there always was an element of lesbianism, an undertone so to speak, and knowing the author’s history, it’s pretty likely it was intentional. Wonder Woman may be a bore now, but she was one of the more interesting characters in comics history, the only I can think of created out of literary/psychological theory.

Oh, and fanboys would be turned away by lesbianism? Let’s think about that a second…

I think they lost me on Wonder Woman once and for all, despite how hard I had tried to stay with her as one of the few women in comics with potential, during one of the JLA revamps.

They had character bios on the back going into the identity and goals and drives of the male members. For Wonder Woman all they had was a paragraph rewording the sentence “she gets off on being the only woman who gets to play with the big boys.”

Yeeah. Because one more woman who likes to run down other women the moment she gets in a position of strength is my idea of a hero. Really. (People are stupid.)

It seems that a lot of people missed the point entirely about it being more reasonable that she was a lesbian than otherwise. It isn’t because she’s a strong woman — lots of strong women are straight, including me, but you don’t see me freaking out if someone thinks I’m a lesbian.

All that tells me is that the person speaking has a head full of stereotypes. (But to the other strong ladies out there? Getting your back up and your offense on because someone suggests someone with your body type might be a lesbian makes you an undercover kneejerk homophobic jerkwad. It only insults you if you think being called gay is an insult.)

The reason it would make sense for her to be a lesbian is the same reason it’s always made sense. She’s an Amazon. She came from Themyscira? where no man was allowed to set foot. Her culture is clearly NOT one of female monks.

Whatever else she is, she should never be portrayed as someone with the pseudo-Christian morals and culture that populate most of American media. (Like, oh, “lots of fornication is fine, as long as it’s with the opposite gender and the same race.” Someone show me where that one is in the Bible.)

The costume change is a flash in the pan, I agree with you completely. It’s just that the character has so much potential, if you could get it out of the over-aged adolescents who represent too much of comic (and sci-fi in general, for that matter) publication. It makes me want to hold on to the hope that one of these times they’ll give her a make-over that lets out the incredible character she could have been all along.

Kick ass post! I’m a big comic book fan and have always found WW to be a yawn. You nailed it when you said the Linda Carter WW was the best. She played the sexy campy role to perfection. The new costume is a non-starter. Cover her in spandex, but give her a super boob job to compensate!

Well written article! Usually when I hit an article where the author starts dragging sexuality out of the closet I rapidly begin to dismiss everything else they say and quickly loose interest. I did make it through the rest of this piece because it was still well written.

However, how would making her gay be interesting? Isn’t she a super hero? Wouldn’t it be more interesting if they focused on her heroism? If I wanted to read of her awesome sexual exploits… well, I might be better served in a different media source, right? Oh, oh oh! You say that a well rounded super character has to have an interesting personal background too? You like teh sexerz too? Its all you think about? Fine, give her a dysfunction! Maybe shes impotent, maybe she wants a child and cant, maybe shes TERRIBLE in bed, maybe she QUESTIONS her sexuality? Bondage? That seems likely, what with the whip/rope/lasso… Maybe shes a virgin and waiting till she gets married, oh how prudish! What if shes a virgin ’cause shes got an addiction to S&M midget rodeo clown bondage snuff porn? That would be just as , if not more interesting then lesbian.

As far as costume changes, shes a girl for crying out loud, were lucky she makes it out of the house without changing fifteen times.

Though she’s Latina rather than black, there already is a comic lesbian superhero that most people have never heard of: Renee Montoya, aka “The Question,” along with (as TGW notes above) other gay/lesbian characters.

Frankly I always assumed that Wonder Woman was lesbian, or at least bisexual. That did nothing to change her attractiveness level (OK, maybe it enhanced it somewhat), since she was a fictional cartoon character, anyway. And as Jeff suggests, heterosexual boys wanted to BE male superheroes; they want to DO the female ones. Neither was going to happen.

Changing Wonder Woman may sell more comic books for an issue or two, but will the same limited effect on the final product–though with similar media attention–as the periodic changes of Betty Crocker’s look.

She has to be straight or gay? It makes so much more sense for her to be bisexual. That being said, It’s not about her sexuality that really matters. Though I would be intrigued to find out what Alan Moore (The Lost Girls, From Hell) would do with WW if he did a graphic novel about her. It’s the content, the substance that matters. And there’s never been enough of either to keep interest.

I just don’t understand why they keep giving J. Michael ScrewUpSki chance after chance after chance with the most iconic of heroes.

I’m surprised he didn’t rename her Princess Quinesha.

And, don’t forget what happened the LAST time they de-powered Diana and wanted to give her a more “urban, gritty feel” and do away with both the Amazons and her Amazonian heritage:

The truth is, they don’t know what to do with Diana. They can’t effectively balance all of her seemingly conflicting characteristics…being buxom and sexy, intelligent, diplomatic, somewhat naive, Superman level powerful, somewhat of a religious zealot, being a feminist and an ambassador, being Pinocchio and Captain Marvel rolled into a girl.

Try harder. Making her “urban” and “dark” ain’t it.

And see Trinity from The Matrix and Xena:Warrior Princess for examples of how women can be all that Diana is and it can still work.

So let’s predict the JMS “twists” that we’ll see, before this claptrap gets re-retconned:

1. She’ll discover that she actually has a father; probably Zeus or Ares.

2. She won’t be an only child.

3. She’ll be waaay more slutty.

4. At some point she’ll get pregnant.

5. She’ll meet and have a deep existential conversation with her “real” self.

6. They’ll never adequately explain how her timeline can be completely reset and yet it doesn’t change everything that Wonder Woman has done in the past.

7. At some point she’ll question if she’s really an American.

It’ll be fun to watch DC talk their way out of this; it’ll be very similar to politicians. If it works, for some inane Twilight reason, they’ll try and act like they always meant for it to be permanent.

If it bombs, they’ll claim that the plan was to always get her back to her “true” origin.

After all, his last retcon was so damn successful.

Oh well, I guess in this new “Urban” version of Wonder Girlfriend her magic lasso makes you pay child support.

I definitely won’t say I’m a Wonder Woman fan, but rather a fan of DC Comics in general. I just think I wasn’t exposed to enough of the WW mythos and stuff as much as Superman and Batman.

I think the new costume is fine, although we all know it probably won’t last more than a year. I’m not crazy about resetting her origins and stuff. I mean, everybody keeps getting updated to stay relevant – fine. Saying something got screwed up in time and the origins are totally different – a little harder to swallow.

I might check out the Wonder Woman book just to see how it turns out though. DC’s marketing plan seems to have worked on me I suppose.

Since when to be gay is edgy? I prefer the change of pants than change of sexual preferences, because it will be wildly stupid, sexist and well… harmful. There are enough people who use sexuality as an accessory, this one comic can go without it.

You’re right it doesn’t, but if you’re an amazon where men were taken as slaves, used only for breeding and the male children were put to death, it probably doesn’t make you one of the Sex in the City crew either.

I don’t know what you mean Wonder Woman as a lesbian would be “wildly stupid, sexist and harmful.” What’s stupid, sexist or harmful about being a lesbian?

hmmmm. I’ve never thought of wonder woman as a lesbian. Believe it or not, a woman can be uninterested in relationships and children and STILL not be a lesbian. Everything isn’t penis or vagina for every woman. Some women just have other stuff to do besides sex. Shocking, I know.

WW was my imaginary friend when I was a little kid. My bff and I both love her. (And both of us are straight. Imagine that.) There is nothing wrong with being a lesbian, but it’s a little bit tired when people’s first response either to a strong woman, or a woman who doesn’t seem to form any sexual relationships… “Oh she MUST be a lesbian.”

It’s just another excuse to boil women down only to sex and their sexuality. In a way it’s a bit objectifying. Maybe Wonder Woman has a lot of sex but has it “off screen.” Maybe that’s not what the comic is about. Maybe the writers thought giving her a boyfriend… or girlfriend… would detract from the comic and make it into something about who she’s going to hook up with next.

Women get a little tired of everything about them being about who they’re going to hook up with. Really, other things exist besides sex and sexual orientation. And let’s be real, Wonder Woman as a lesbian would just be more spank material for men, because she’s got the big breasts and the great legs.

At any rate… I think the costume change is awful. I don’t like her as a biker chick. I wish they’d get away from this urban fantasy tramp stamp look for “sexy women.” I liked her original costume just fine.

I agree that Wonder Woman isn’t a very well-developed character. I think this is a side effect of a male-dominated industry that can’t get very deep into the female psyche and prefer to deal with it on surface terms or women as eye candy. This makes her significantly less interesting to male comic book readers, since she’s a cartoon and therefore somewhat limiting as spank material anyway.

In my opinion, putting Wonder Woman has a lesbian would be just awsome. Finally, gay woman can feel powerful instead of feeling ridiculed. But the biggest turning point would have to be if Wonder Woman became anorexic. If she just got SUPER skinny. Now how would that get the media’s attention? Wonder Woman has always been full of muscle. She’s always been strong and hot. But what if she lost all that muscle and traded her size 5 (looking that way) jeans for a size 0. They should make a movie, comic book, or something of that sort that has her dealing with the looks of her body. I mean, come on. Yes, men like a woman with some meat on her bones, but that’s changing. It seems to me it would make a big impact if Wonder Woman has “size” issues. When I think about it now, though, all that attention would be negative.

I would disagree with this comment: “After almost seven decades there still has never been a definitive version of the character and there’s no reason to believe anything is about to change now. ”

I think the Linda Carter TV version IS the Definitive Version of the character. For whatever reason, ever since the George Perez reboot in 1986 (which I loved, btw), the PTB @ DC have chosen to stay away from that version in the comics, which is probably a mistake.

Like you said, Wonder Woman is hitting 70 so she needed a makeover. Next, DC Comics will have Wonder Woman on American Idol hoping she’ll become the next Susan Boyle, who got her make over after she sung.

Of course she has an audience–the gay audience and bikers who like that look. The idea is to keep them guessing so I doubt she will come out of the closet.

“Wonder Woman will sink back to its middling monthly sales numbers in the 70,000 – 80,000 range.”

Middling? Most authors would kill to have monthly numbers like that since the average book (not comic book) sells like 500 copies.

I thought there was one cartoon that hinted that she might be bisexual…i thought she had a thing for superman once…but for her to have a full blown lesbian relationship IN THE COMICS would boost sales. they need good writers to do that though

How about instead of just rehashing the same darn character by giving them a fresh coat of paint, we honestly rebooted them? Am I the only one who liked Stan Lee’s reimagining of Wonder Woman better than the original?

Here’s a thought: these are characters, not cash cows. Let’s start the story, enjoy the story, and end the story, and make way for something new.

Wow. It’s been so long since I read Stan Lee’s version of Wonder Woman that I’ve clean forgotten it existed. I’d have to go back to find it to see if reimagining the character might work better than this timid rebooting.

However, let’s face facts: Wonder Woman is a wholly owned property of the TimeWarner conglomerate. They don’t give a damn if she’s straight, bi or gay. She IS a cash cow for them and they would love to find a way to make more cash off her. That is the bottom line that matters to them most.

I’ve always liked Wonder woman as a team player Justice League etc….breaking Maxwell lord’s neck make her badass enough for me. As to her being Lesbian…2 issues then ZZZZZZZZZZ . Comics have been there and done that.

I totally see what you’re saying about her sexuality, and I agree that it would make sense for Diana to be a lesbian, but its not “too edgy for DC.” They have a couple of lesbian characters including Batwoman and The Question I think a change in Wonder Woman’s sexual orientation would be a hard sell to fans of her 60+ year history. But you’re right, the costume change is underwhelming.

😦 My fond memories of this fantasy icon ***squished***. Great! Now it will make absolutely no sense, when I tell my son the stories of long ago…when she leapt from the comic book pages and onto the TV screen…and how my sister and I used to dress up with belts , tiaras, and cuffs made out of aluminum foil and chase my brother around the house as the “Wonder Woman” team. We would sing the “Wonder Woman” TV theme (you know the one..da da da da…. da da da da, WONDER WOMAN!…Remember Lynda Carter?) Oh the good ole days….

People don’t write anymore. At the very best they rehash and regurtitate, but write? I dont no wut u spek of…

Anyway, obviously she needs to be closer to a Mediterranean than pasty Wonder Bread Woman. A nice Turkish girl might be more appropriate. Put her in a burka and let her fight crime…no more star spangled undies, but hey, leaves a bit more to the imagination…

I believe that in many respects that you are correct. I feel compelled to comment about this particular topic. I am fairly well versed in the origins and middling years of WW. You are correct, she has become a dull pointless character. I think that WW should be revived, but only in the image that her original creator intended her to be. Marsden created WW as a phycosomatic project of sorts. He wanted men to see women as an equal rather than a domesticated inferior. She needs revamping. But, honestly, it is not her looks that need to change, but what she stands for.

Interesting piece. I disagree with you on some points but its interesting. Originally wonder Woman wasn’t meant to be anything like the bikini waxed porno figure she is now. I think the point might be less that wonder woman doesn’t mean shit but that she’s been let down. I MASSIVELY heart the original 1940s Wonder Woman, it was decades ahead of its time and then some, but the character has been let down. There;s a great interview with the author of Supergirls where he picks out some of the early proto-feminista (albeit endearingly naive) Wonder Woman moments of William Moulton Marston and compares them with the shit deal other female comics characters got and also follows the shift from strong woman to 1950s romance novel heroine.http://fora.tv/2009/09/22/The_Supergirls_The_History_of_Comic_Book_Heroines

Well, it’s a good analysis, but I don’t agree with all what you have said. Wonder Woman has 70 years, and I think she can still be around. Women right now don’t dress like she was, the pants is like giving her a more down-to-earth vibe. If she was eye-candy? probably, as much of other female characters in comics, but giving her an own story was good. The perception of the readers can’t be changed by media, or by art but by story, and giving her a sexual orientation don’t think would be powerful-see the new Catwoman example. She needs a better story, in my opinion, and the respect of their mates and readers.

I would put money on DC having considered a lesbian WW, & xnaying it for two reasons – comics longtime revulsion of anything homosexual (usually gay males, but a lesbian stops being a straight male fantasy for anyone able to reason), & our culture’s male fixation with bi-girl-on-bi-girl (the latter would seem pandering). Those ideas are seemingly at odds, but, when there’s cash to be made, more cash means there is a greater stake in playing it safe. They don’t want to rock the boat.

That said, I agree with your logic that an island of women would, at the very least, be (sometimes reluctantly) lesbian in practice, mostly bi by nature. Also, Frank Miller’s non-canon Batman made WW & Supes longtime but infrequent lovers (but, being outside continuity, it ‘doesn’t count’).

Nope not liking this at all, i’m a HUGE WONDER WOMAN fan her look is classic why do this morons have to change things thjat need not be changed in the first place? You grow to love something and then its so called updated…well who the hell asked for an update??

You want edgy? Go true amazon and lop off a breast. Ooooh it could even be breast cancer for that bold contemporary statement.

Or just go full on nude. I mean seriously, they are pretty much there already. Seeing story after story of male adversaries drolling on themselves and pretty much begging for the lasso thing might get old after a bit though.

The classic Wonder Woman wins for me but really never read more than about 10 comics anyway – someone that was originally considered so American Pie might be difficult to make too edgy without offending the masses.

I like what every one say’s….but truth be told, if DC wants to get her going they need to put a continuity to her.
The closest thing to it was “new Frontier” where we see transition from the golden age to the more modern one.
She is immortal, even if she ages in man’s world all she has to do is drink from the well of immortality….voila: young again!
She is a LESBIAN….or Bi…..PLEASE if she were it would be HOT! Not in a sexual way, but she would not be some over done tart like the new Starfire or Catwoman.
She was in lust with the original Cheetah….Heck Priscilla Rich was so wanting her she became the Cheetah…….and what of Paula Von Gunther….hmmm Nazi broad turns other cheek…all those women….SM/Bondage etc…..HOT!
So….Lesbian…2011….so what! Please if DC can create a lame gay teen hero like Bunker…she can be “omni” sexual…..it would increase readership
Please forgive the digression.
My solution: Princess Diana returned to Paradise Island…she got over man’s world. Diana Prince brought to Paradise Island, given “purple Ray” treatment becomes new Wonder Woman….looses powers in 60’s…. get’s them back…marries Steve Trevor…has a daughter Lyta…(continuity problem solved) Princess Diana is active in man’s world then decides to return to take over Hyppolyte’s function as heir to throne…
One step further: Hyppolyte get’s knocked up by Coeus/Zeus/Hercules (whom ever) has child…it’s stolen.. (Donna Troy)…found by Wonder Woman..and raised as her sister….
The whole thing allow’s all of the DC character’s continuity. It allows for Wonder Woman..(Golden age) and Silver…Diana Prince, and for Fury.
BUT…BUT DC would never do this. Instead of simplifying they just mess it up more.
Wonder Woman could be fantastic under the right direction…..but no one has stepped up to the plate…..
Thus, in homage to original source of this comment/reply…..DC needs to have ball’s…they could do it right…but somehow…they always screw up continuity.
You guy’s and gal’s are fantastic…and seeing all the reply’s is good…NOW someone tell DC!

George perez work was great, but sadly, he’s also the reason why diana later became so unlikeable. For 20 years, these looser writers did nothing but rip off his work. George perez wonder woman, in the hands of inferior artists and writers is an unlikeable character.